Hate you too
by Jess Violet
Summary: Travis has three stupid idea's, following each other closely. First: he goes to New York, to Katie's school, finally going to tell her how he feels. But coming there, he meets an old foe who will try everything to break Travis and keep Katie away from him. Better than it sounds, just give it a try.
1. Ch 1: Going to New York

**This is my second PJO fanfiction. Check out my other: Party with the giants on my profile! **

**Hope you enjoy and review!**

Travis

Am I completely stupid? Probably. If I have to believe others, than yes. Very, very much. But I don't. I've never listened or cared about what others think of me. But now I think I probably should have. Then I wouldn't be in this terrible situation. I never thought I would get this far in this stupid competition. I never thought I would be here, behind stage, breathing deeply in and out to drown my nerves, waiting for my cue. What am I doing behind a stage? Good question.

You see, I had a very stupid idea. More like three very stupid ideas. Entering this stupid contest to get her attention, was where it all led. In a good way, her attention, that is. Not the yelling, cursing, hating kind of way. Because somewhere between: "I hate you, Travis!" and "Can you and your annoying brother finally leave my cabin's roof alone?" I started to love that voice. But still, I preferred it not screaming.

And worst was that I didn't know. I never knew how I felt. Yes, I probably am stupid. But I remember being so worried during the Titan war. I remember hurrying back to the empire State, yelling at Conner to hurry up, only wanting to know she made it. I didn't understand why I was so worried, especially about her. And she was there. When I tried to talk to her, she told me to back off. "I don't have time for your jokes now, Stoll. The war is still going on." She didn't know I really cared. Neither did I.

When the war was over, and I finally got the courage together, I knocked on her cabin's door, flowers in my hand. Sure, she probably had enough flowers, but it was the only thing I was sure she'd like. Her sister Miranda opened the door, with the same annoyance in her eyes as she always had. "What do you want, Stoll?" I had opened my mouth to say something, but Miranda cut me off immediately. "She's not here. She's not a year-rounder." She glanced at the flowers. "What kind of bomb is in there?"

"Nothing!" I said, feeling the need to defend myself. But it didn't matter. She was gone. For the rest of the year. We had survived a full war, I finally knew what I felt, and she was just gone.

"Sure," she muttered. "Bye." With that she shut the door in my face.

I was stunned for a second, but just in time I stuck my foot between the door. "Wait! Do you know where she is?"

Her face appeared in the small grove of the door, suspiciously eyeing me. "Why? You aren't going to plague her with pranks during the school-year, are you? She told me she was glad to be away from your pranks." I won't say that didn't hurt. She wanted to be away from me. And I didn't blame her.

"I'm not. Just tell me. The school, the city, please." She wasn't used to hearing me say please. I wasn't either. I never do. I glanced behind me, seeing a daughter of Aphrodite speaking softly under her breath. I thought she said something like 'tratie'. I didn't know, but I was pretty sure she was charmspeaking me into saying 'please.'

Miranda didn't see her. She was studying me. Finally, she muttered: "Fine. She's at the C.H.S in New York." She glanced once more at the flowers. They were yellow and red tulips. "So there's really nothing wrong with these?" I nodded and she grabbed them out of my hands, shutting the door quickly. That moment I wished I would've put something in them.

So, going to New York was my first stupid idea. I dragged Conner with me, of course. He didn't agree, but really didn't have much of a choice. He even tried to challenge me to a duel, who would win got to choose. I declined. Even though I was older, Conner was the more serious one sometimes, and he was better at sword fighting. What I think is completely unfair. I just told him I would leave anyway, he could come or not. I refused to tell him why I was going to high school. Finally he agreed.

Going to New York wasn't even my stupidest idea. No, that one came way later.

Because we actually went to school. To High School. Me and Conner haven't been to school since we were eight and seven. We were kicked out a lot like other demigods, but our reasons weren't 'accidents.' It were pranks and stealing. It was a habit. Couldn't help it. With 'accidents,' you might get another shot. We didn't. We lived on the streets for a while, surviving by pick-pocketing and raiding stores till a satyr found us. He wasn't the first to notice us when we tried ( and usually succeeded) to steal his wallet, but he was the first to outrun us. I hadn't been very careful, because the guy was supposed to be walking with crutches. I hadn't expected I needed to run. Trailing off again. Stupid ADHD.

Where was I? Right, school. Worse, High School. When we walked up the steps on Monday morning, I was looking around for any sign of her. The school was already running for a week or two. Conner was right next to me, looking around as well, but for other reasons. He was mostly examining locks, and I heard him mutter "Piece of cake."

We followed the signs to the Director's office. A fat woman with grey hair and old glasses didn't even look up from her work as we came in. "What?" she said, not to friendly.

Conner waited for me to say something. He looked at me, like: you're the one who wanted to come here. You go deal with the evil lady. I sighed and spoke up, "We're Travis and Conner Stoll. New students."

She waved us away, motioning to a stack of papers. I picked one up. They were schedules and maps. Nice. "Your guide is waiting for you over there," she said, now waving to a bench where a blond teenager was sitting.

"That's really not necce-" I started, but realized it really didn't matter what I said. She had moved over to her computer and paid no attention to us at all. "Okay."

I took my and Conner's schedule and left the office. I saw Conner swing a bag over his shoulder. "Where'd you get that?" I asked.

"You like it?" he asked, not answering. "That woman has three standing right there. I think this one contains tests. Dude, we're golden for the rest of the year!"

I smiled. I had promised myself to try and not steal anything here, wanting to make a good impression, but that didn't count for my brother. "Nice job."

"Well, thank you, kind sir," he said, making a exaggerated bow. Then he looked around. "So where do you think they keep the food? I'm getting hungry."

I looked around too. "I don't know. But we have to rai…visit the canteen soon." I changed my choice of words when I saw 'our guide' walking towards us. He had short blond hair that spiked up a bit at the sides and blue bored eyes. I'll tell you, I think he looked ridiculous. I looked over at Conner, smirking, but Conner was staring in shock at the guy. "What?" I mouthed at him.

"You don't see…" he started to say, then stopped when the guy was closer.

First he started with the regular: "Yeah, okay, welcome at C.H.S. and all that stuff. I'm your guide etc. Let's go and…" he actually said that, not my ADHD tuning out. But he stopped mid-sentence and crossed his arms with a grin. "Well, well. You both still look eight years old."

"What?" I asked.

Conner was first. "You still look like an idiot."

The guy laughed. "Moron. You really don't want to insult me. Even if it's that lame."

I had no idea what was going on, but I still needed to defend my brother. "And why would that be? You don't exactly look strong. I bet either of us could beat you up anytime."

He raised his hands, but didn't look like he was actually surrendering. "No need to get all violent. And, by the way, I doubt it. Don't know if you noticed, but your brother has a purse." He motioned at the bag Conner was carrying. "But that's not it. I could get you kicked out of this school with the snap of my fingers. My dad owns this place."

"Oh, him? Yes, I think we just met him," I said, dramatically looking back to the director's office. "Not so very nice, he is."

The guy started to look angry. "That's a woman, you idiot."

"Oh, is it your mother? I'm sorry."

He just shook his head. "You really need an education, Conner."

"I'm Travis," I said. I didn't even think about how he knew our names. "That's Conner." Conner was right next to me, trying to send me messages through glares. He wanted me to stop talking. "And who are you?" I asked.

The guy burst out laughing. "You don't remember? You were trying to insult me for no reason?"

I pretended to think for a second. "Yeah. You didn't really have a friendly vibe."

He turned to Conner. "Don't tell me you don't remember. You were the smart one, right?"

Conner crossed his arms. "Depends on what area. But, yeah, I remember. I remember you wailing behind your father's legs, yelling: 'Put them in prison, daddy! Daddy! Daddy, make their lives miserable!' We were living on the streets, for gods sake. We only stole one freaking lollipop. You dragged us to freaking court for one lollipop."

The guy paled. Then he regained his posture. "And my father's wallet. With contracts and thousands of dollars. And passes."

Conner raised an eyebrow then glanced at me and back. "I only took your lollipop. You must've made that wallet up for court. So you could get us arrested."

Now I remembered. Conner and I had one close call with court. We left, while that man who I _had_ stolen his wallet from, was rambling on about what he wanted from us. Conner had only stolen the lollipop from his son and had no idea why we where there. I thought I could solve all our problems. I never told him. We had silently removed the glass, and I had already let Conner climb out before me. I was still sitting on the windowsill when they noticed us. The man had grabbed me, and I had bitten him, kicking wildly. He pretty much screamed and dropped me almost five stories out the window. I thought I was a goner as the grass came closer fast. But then I suddenly felt something tickle my ankles and I fell slower. Looking down, I had shoes ( I lived on streets, I didn't have shoes) with both two little wings, flapping for my life, brushing my feet every beat. They slipped off my feet an inch before I hit the ground softly, before Conner had even climbed down. Now I know our father had saved me.

And I remembered the guy's name now. Jessy (James) Montgomery. Well, crap. Still, I think James is a name for a butler, not the boss. But that's just me, I think.

"Right!" I said. "I remember your dad! He dropped a eight year old homeless kid from five stories height. I'm sorry, your dad really _is _a nice guy."

Jessy flinched for a second and then said, "You may really want to stop that. I should send you back to court. But because I'm a nice guy, I'll give you a chance. You owe me though." He turned and started to walk. "Follow me, I'll show you around."

"I'd rather go back to court," Conner said, not moving one step.

Jessy turned back to us, surprised. "But there's no fun in prison, my boys," he said with a smile. "You should know." I wanted to punch him. "Believe me, I'm the best guide you can get. I know everyone, every-where, every-what. Everything that goes on in school." He turned back to the hallway, pointing at doors and people, proving that he indeed, knew everything about this school. Of course, I tuned him out, following him. For someone who seemed to know so much, and even knew about our pick pocketing history, didn't even bother to protect his pockets. So seconds later, Conner and I were counting his money. Sadly enough, we only found a couple two-diners bills and almost no cash. It wasn't even worth taking. So Conner stuck it back in Jessy's pocket after writing: 'Does Daddy know about this?' on the bills.

I returned to looking around, searching for her. Conner was looking for victims, I recognized that look. He grinned at me, but noticed I wasn't into it this time.

I saw a big red/pink poster. Homecoming dance. Perfect. I never thought I'd ever _ever_ attend one of these. "Hey, Jesse," I said. Jessy turned around. "When's this?" I asked, pointing at the poster.

Jessy smirked. "Like you could ever."

"What do you mean?" I said, trying to keep my voice calm. Conner was looking at me questioning. _WHY? A dance? What's happening to you?_ "It's just a dance."

"Just a dance?" Jessy repeated. "HA! Not at this school. It's the most important party of the year. And of course the homecoming king and queen competition. You have to bring a date. I don't see either have a girlfriend, do you?"

"Not yet," I said.

Conner's eyes widened at me, shocked. "You aren't here because of her, are you? No way, man! She hates…"

I glared at him, cutting him off. Of course, it was too late. Jessy was already smirking. "Who?" he demanded.

"I don't have to tell you anything," I said, already rushing away. I had to find her.

"Tell me and you won't owe me anymore. Remember, I know everyone," I heard Jessy call.

I knew that if I didn't tell him, he would keep pestering me and Conner with 'owing' him. And maybe… if he knew her. So I stopped walking. This was my second stupid idea. "Fine," I grunted, while Jessy caught up with me, looking very self-satisfied. "Spit it out," Jessy said.

Finally I muttered to the ground, "Katie Gardner."

**Now, who didn't expect that? **

**Update with three reviews? **


	2. Ch 2: Girls

**I didn't expect to get those three reviews so quickly! Thank you so much!**

**Forgot the disclaimer: We can all assume that everyone writing for fanfiction owns NOTHING! I personally think these disclaimers are annoying. But, if anyone insists: I'm not Rick Riordan. I'm a girl (so sorry, I don't know how guys talk about girls. Already apologizing) and live in the Netherlands. Not Rick Riordan.  
So, here's the promised second chapter. **

Still Travis

Why is telling him about Katie one of my three stupidest ideas? It's not that important, you think? He can help you find Katie, you guess? Boy, you're wrong. How, you ask? Continue reading.

Because Jessy hadn't forgiven me for biting his father's thick hand. "Ah, Katie Gardner. Yes, I know her. I even know where she is right now." Sounds nice, right?

I looked up to the grinning Jessy. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I never thought that goodie-two-shoes knew two thieves."

"We're not thieves," growled Conner. Though technically, our father is the god of thieves. But that's not all he is. "We _were_…. Scavengers."

Jessy laughed. "You just keep telling yourself that, boy," he said and patted Conner on his back. I saw Conner's fists tremble and itch. I send him a quick look to keep him from punching the annoying kid. I really wanted to, too, but now I needed to stay in school.

"What kind of PE classes does this school give?" I asked randomly.

Jessy was surprised by my sudden question. "Just regular, I guess, why?"

"No boxing? Material arts? Sword-fighting? Archery? Anything in that direction?" Conner filled in, knowing what I meant and hoped for.

Unfortunately he shook his head in a no, are you crazy? "Too bad," I said. But maybe I had to keep Jessy as a 'friend' until he showed me where Katie was. I couldn't wait to beat him up with a sword, and I knew I couldn't keep Conner from punching him for long, so I just asked. "So where is she?"

He seemed lost for a moment, until he remembered Katie. "Oh, yes, wait here, I'll find her for you."

"Nice try, I'm coming," I didn't know what he was planning, but it wasn't good. Probably something like telling Katie I used to be/ are a thief. Like that would scare her away from me. Not that it would work, but I didn't trust it one bit.

"Fine," Jessy said with gritted teeth. I followed him closely. When we were nearing the library, we were already walking fast. Jessy picked up his pace when we entered. We quickly zigzagged past bookcases, and I was pretty sure he was trying to shake me off. He glanced over his shoulder. I was still following. Conner just sat down somewhere, sipping from his coffee cup. I wasn't sure where he got it. Jessy almost snarled at me and dashed off, running through the library. Not that I come in a lot of library's, but Annabeth was very strict about not running in these places. I was sure I was going to be cursed by Athena when I growled and ran too. I tried to follow him as much as I could, but this place was big, with a lot of turns and splits. Quickly we were running alone, trying to find Katie first. People yelled at me, some tried to make me trip, but I jumped over their legs or ignored them. Then I'd grab hold of a shelf and let it help me in the next turn, causing several books to fall off. When I finally skidded through another U-turn, I saw Jessy running next to me, on the other side of the bookcase. I could see his evil grin through the half-filled shelves, sometimes vanishing behind books. At this point, I was running like hellhounds were on my heels. I looked back in front of me. Another case made another turn to the right. But I heard her.

I heard Katie's voice, laughing, talking to a friend of hers. She was here. I wanted to grin at Jessy, but when I looked at his path, I saw he could reach her straight ahead. I dashed forward, making the right-turn, and filled my lungs to scream her name.

"Katie!" It wasn't my voice. Jessy. I skidded the last turn to the left and I saw her. And him. I stopped dead in my tracks. "Hey, Kate," Jessy had already said. "Will you come to the Homecoming with me?" he said it as fast as he could, before I could even make a sound.

Katie was surprised for a moment. Then tucked a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear. I should've said something that moment, but I just couldn't move, looking at Katie and Jessy. Her green eyes, her long brown hair in a braid on her back, and finished with a white flower. "Uh, yeah. Sure, sounds like fun," she stuttered. "Yes, I will," she finished with a smile.

I could almost hear my heart break. I couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't think.

"Great!" Jessy said. He stepped forward to her as took her white flower between his fingers, playing with her hair. He glanced at me for a second and then looked down in her green eyes. "I can't wait."

Then he stepped back and left. Waving at her, smirking at me.

I slunk back behind the bookshelves, hearing Katie and her friend in the distance, being happy and excited. _That should've_ _been me, she was happy about_. I slid to the ground, my back against the shelves. _But honestly, how would she have reacted when she saw me? _ I let my head fall on my arms, looking at the red carpet of the library. _She was glad to be away from me. _The carpet began to blur. Every sound seemed distant. _She would've said no anyway. Think I was crazy. Strangle me with vines? _I refused to cry. I will not cry. I closed my eyes, trying to focus. _ I'm going to kill Jessy. Why does he hate me? Why did he do this? I'll give him a reason to hate me. _

"Are you alright?" a voice asked. She sounded concerned.

I looked up, trying to look okay. "Yeah, sure." I glanced through the bookcase, trying to see Katie. She was already gone. "I'm fine," I muttered, and stood up, dusting myself off.

In front of me was a girl, dark brown hair, brown eyes and a concerned look on her face. From her clothes, I figured she was a cheerleader. That's what I guessed, since her costume said _CSH cerehosi_. After some time I figured it said CHS cheerios. That made more sense. "Uh," she mumbled, than waved her hand in front of my face, with a bit awkward expression. Then I realized I'd been staring at an awkward place, trying to read it.

"Oh, gods! I'm sorry," I said. "Dyslexia… and uh… well, thanks. Bye!" I ran away. I blinked a couple times, to make sure I really didn't have watery eyes and then slowed down. I looked around and quickly saw Conner waving at me.

I slumped down on a chair at the same table. He was still drinking his coffee and studied me. "What happened?" he asked. In his tone I heard: _I knew this was a bad idea_, but he didn't say it.

I said nothing. I put my arms and head on the table and groaned.

"Bad, I take it."

I sat up again. "Very bad." I looked at the place I last saw Katie. She had said yes. To him! I told myself I needed to calm down. It wasn't a proposal. But it hurt. Very bad.

"How'd she react when you asked her?" Conner asked, glancing at me from above his coffee.

I had my elbows on the table and let my head hang. "She didn't. I didn't even talk to her."

He raised an eyebrow. "We came here so you could talk to Katie and you didn't? WHY? Really? Why are we here, then?" he asked, completely confused and mostly annoyed.

"I didn't because he was here before me. Jessy. He asked her. Just to get to me. I'm going to kill that guy as soon as I see him again," I grumbled. "I don't think we can stay here, after I kill him. Have it your way. We'll leave."

Conner lowered his cup. "And she said yes to Jessy?" he asked, just to be sure. I nodded. "Ouch. But dude, she doesn't even _know_ you're here."

I slammed my fists down on the table and looked away. "Like it'd change anything. You were right. She hates us."

"You've never really showed that you cared for her, either. I mean, chocolate bunnies and flowers just don't do it anymore. Girls are getting picky," Conner joked. He knew really well it kind of mattered how you delivered them. On their roof and pranks wasn't the good way.

I couldn't laugh. I really couldn't take jokes right now. "Like you could do it any better," I snapped.

Conner leaned back in his chair. "I could get any girl I want, wanna bet?"

Laughing, jokes, no. Bets, having some malicious pleasure from Conner trying to flirt, I could do. "Sure. How much? Five Drachmas?"

He looked taken back for a moment, like he didn't expect I'd agree. "You got a bet." Still he hesitated.

"Go on, then," I said.

He nodded and looked around. A bit of a nerdy girl stood at the copy machine. Conner swallowed hard, looked at me with a pleading glance, but I continued saying "Go on, then." And he wolf-whistled. The girl didn't look up at first, like she'd never expect it to be for her. When she noticed nobody else was close, she looked around. She found Conner's gaze. He winked. She giggled nervously, quickly picked up her copy's and hurried out the library.

I couldn't help but grin. I held out my hand, wiggling my fingers. "That's five Drachmas. Or should I give you another shot?" I knew Conner had never had a girlfriend and he was scared as hell. He never really flirts. He's usually shy around girls he likes. But believe me, he has flirted with girls like Clarisse, just for the fun of it, and ends up with a black eye.

Conner glared at me. "Fine. Once more. I tell you, she'll be going to that dance with me."

I grinned. "Well, here's your chance, Conner." A tan girl with white-blond hair and striking blue eyes entered the library, a magazine under her arm. She wore a blue and white summer dress, and I was pretty sure I'd seen her before. Maybe she was a model. She looked like it. Way out of Conner's league.

Conner send me another pleading look. He wanted to wait for the next one. I shook my head.

Conner turned back to the girl and called, "Hey, how're you doin'?" he said, imitation Joey, from Friends. He managed to get me laughing.

The girl whirled around to Conner, surprised. When she saw us, she smiled. "I'm fine, thanks."

Conner mouthed at me: 'how does he do that?' and winced as he saw the girl walking towards us.

She held out her hand. "I'm Laurel."

Conner awkwardly took it. "I'm Conner. This is my brother Travis."

"Yeah, I know," she said. I was surprised for a second, than I figured she must've heard us. "So was there any reason you did a imitation of Tribbiani?"

Conner looked surprised she knew. "Uh…"He glanced at me again, but I was looking into the now-mine-coffee cup. "I eh… "

"You placed a bet, didn't you?" Laurel guessed.

Conner awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, like he does when he's nervous. "Yeah…"

I tuned them out. I'd never thought he'd actually do it. Seeing him talking to a girl really didn't help me forget about Katie. I started planning how I'd kill Jessy and how we'd go back to camp. I didn't want to stay here.

"Are you alright?" I heard Laurel ask after a while.

I looked up. "What?"

"You don't look so good." I noticed she'd sat down next to Conner. "What's wrong?" she actually sounded like she wanted to help.

"It's nothing," I muttered, immediately feeling a pang of guilt. "It's… I wanted to ask this girl to the dance, but I was too late." I didn't know why I told her. She just was easy to talk to. And her look makes you tell everything, somehow. "It's nothing," I repeated.

"Doesn't look like nothing," she said. "You're really bummed. Who's she? Maybe I know her."

I shook my head. "That's not a good idea, I think. She doesn't like me. Not like _like. _Not even like at all."

"I'm confused," said Laurel.

"She hates him. He loves her. Love/Hate thingy," Conner explained so nicely. Though accurate.

Laurel nodded. "And you wanted to make your move with the Homecoming dance. How cute!"

"Don't do that," I said, staring into the black coffee. I felt more depressed every minute. "It's not cute. Because she hates me and is going with a jerk who, coincidence, hates me too."

"Who could hate you?" a voice said. From the corners of my eyes I saw that cheerleader. She was leaning over the table. I ignored her. I just couldn't deal with it, now. "I couldn't," she said.

"Melissa," Laurel glared at her with a pretty scary glare. "Not now. Not him."

Melissa winced a bit. "I just wanted to help," she pouted.

"No you don't," Laurel said matter-of-factly. "This is what you do. Use guys when they're weak." Laurel and Melissa started a staring contest, as if it would prove who was right. "Not Travis. Not on my watch."

Melissa raised her chin. "Hmf! I just wanted to make him feel better. Here," she scrabbled a line of numbers on a paper and slid it over the table to me. I hadn't said a word.

"Melissa! Please!" Laurel exclaimed. "Leave him alone. _Please._" This time she actually begged with the please, meaning it.

"Fine," she said and stepped away, then hesitated. She reached for the paper where her number was one and snatched it away.

But I held it in my fist. "Wait," I said. I looked up to Melissa. "Would you go to the Homecoming dance with me?" I saw Conner's eyes widen, Laurel's eyes narrow, and Melissa smile. She nodded and left her number in my hands. When she walked away, she shot a smirk at Laurel, who returned a glare. Melissa yelped and darted away.

Then Laurel looked back at me, without stopping glaring. "Why'd you do that?"

I honestly didn't know. To make Katie jealous? To prove I'm not a complete idiot and some people did like me? Because I needed someone to show Jessy? None of it was really like me. So I just shrugged and drank from the coffee, so I couldn't talk.

Laurel stood up. "Fine, then. Your choice. I have to go to class."Then she turned to Conner. "See you at the dance?" with that, she walked away, leaving Conner stunned until she had left the library.

When she was gone, Conner gripped the table strongly and looked at me, completely clueless. "What are we going to do?" he half-yelled.

I put down the cup. "You mean, what am I going to do about your new girlfriend?"

Conner flinched at the word 'girlfriend', then he nodded, hardly visible.

I said, "First, I'm going to laugh at you, secondly, I'm going to congratulate you, and last, I'm going to tell you to buck up and go to the dance with her."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's your advice?"

I took another sip, emptying my cup. "Ha-ha, congratulations and buck up. She's a nice girl."

He sighed dramatically. "And what about you?"

"What do you mean?" I pretended drinking again. Why is that cup already empty? I didn't want to talk.

"Well, obviously, that cup is empty, and you only asked Meliss…"

"Oh, look, we should be heading to class too," I stood up abruptly, cutting him off and slammed the cup down on the table. I scurried out of the library, looking from the map to my schedule, trying to figure out where I had to go. We had the first hour free for our 'guide'. That was over now. Ok, now… I stared at Elnighs, until it turned into English. I groaned. This is why I didn't used to go to school. No, it isn't, but it should've been. Since we never actually read, Conner's and my dyslexia was bad, even for Half-Bloods.

I glanced over my shoulder, and saw Conner take another corridor to his class.

When I entered the classroom, I already saw Jessy sitting there, talking to a couple of his friends. When he noticed me, he waved. "Ah, there's my little scavenger. Come here, man!"

I clenched my fists and sat down on the other side of the class. I heard Jessy still yelling. "Ow, do you really have to be like that? It's not like I _stole_ something from you, like a wallet or something. Or a girlfriend. How could I when you have neither?"

I stood up, my chair falling over. Jessy and his friends laughed. "Yeah, come here! Show us what you got, tough boy!" I shot him the same glare I had shot Kronos. Jessy flailed his arms and fell over with his chair. I wanted to punch him, right there, but the bell sounded and the teacher entered the classroom. "Welcome, class. Today, we're discussing the usage of comma's. I can tell you, still a lot of people use them for plurals. This is not correct. They should be… Jessy, would you be so nice to follow my class while sitting, not lying down. And you," he gestured to me, "sit down, please. You must be the new student. Conner Stoll?"

"I'm Travis," I muttered and slumped down in my chair.

I didn't pay any attention. Like I cared when you used comma's. I never write. Or read. When you talk, you don't hear it.

When the class was over, I had Greek, what was just easy. Still, I didn't like to show off. That would only give me more taunts from Jessy. He seemed to be in every of my classes. I didn't like that. After English, Greek and science, I and Conner had lunch. Great. My hands itched to crack a lock.

In the cafeteria, I looked around to find my brother. Finally, I saw him sitting at a table, laughing with Laurel. I only made one step before he was already in front of me.

"Jessy, what do you want?" I asked annoyed.

Jessy grinned. "Nothing." He definitely didn't want nothing. So I waited. Then he sighed and said, "I just thought I'd do you a favor. You know, because we're friends."

"You're actually going to pretend we're friends?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not going to owe you anything."

He sighed dramatically. "Fine, two favors. You're really hard to buy over, you know?"

"What. Do. You. Want?" I asked again. I didn't trust his two favors. By the sound of it, he had already done something. "I don't need any favors from you."

"At least one, I insist." I studied his face. His smile was mischievous like a son of Hermes. How could I trust that? If anyone, I knew what they meant."I got you that class you wanted. PE?" he said.

"What do you want me to do?"

He crossed his arms. No, he wanted me to do something too. "I had three professionals hired. We're going fighting tomorrow. All I want from you, is to be my sparring partner."

I was surprised for a second. Than grinned widely. "Done. Can't wait," I told him.

I walked past him, hoping to get away. But he grabbed my arm. "Oh, and me and Katie are entering for Homecoming King and Queen. Just so you know."

I swung my free arm in the direction of his face before I could control myself. He dodged with fast reflexes. "Save it for tomorrow, Travis." I knew he wouldn't challenge me if he had no experience. He had probably been trained in a fighting sport for years.

I shrugged him off. "Still, can't wait." I left and sat down next to my brother and Laurel.

Conner looked back at Jessy and then at me. "He's not leaving you alone, is he?"

"No," I said, snatching a slushy from a random student's plate. "But he just gave me permission to beat him up at gym."

Laurel raised an eyebrow at me. She didn't even say anything about the slushy. "How did he give you permission, exactly?"

"Gym class," I explained. "He has hired some trainers and…" I saw Melissa walking by. She winked at me. Behind her, I saw another pink poster. "Hey Melissa," I called after her and jumped up. She looked up to me, waiting. "How do you feel about entering for Homecoming King and Queen?" blurted out of my mouth.

She smiled. "I'd love to."

I immediately felt guilty. "Great," I said with a crooked smile.

"See ya," she flipped her hair and walked away.

I returned to our table, Laurel's narrowed eyes trying to burn holes in me. "You didn't!"

"I did…" I groaned. That moment I knew I was screwed. Because you just read my third, and most stupid idea ever.

**And that's chapter two! **

**I'd like another five reviews for chapter three. (There are going to be four). **

**Also, one of Laurel, Melissa and Jessy is a demigod. Can you guess who? And what do you think of them? I wanna know! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Ch 3: My worst idea

**And the five are in! **

**Yes, I know fighting during PE is very overused, but I like it and I want Travis to beat Jessy up. Who doesn't? **

And that is how I ended up here. Behind the stage, waiting for my cue to go up and hear who won. My campaign with Melissa didn't go smoothly. Jessy wasn't too happy when he found out I was entering. Of course he wasn't going to let me win. I don't even want to win. I really didn't know why I even entered in the first place. I was just so angry that jerk entered with _my_ Katie. I just had to get into the battlefield. Why am I such an idiot?

So anyway, back to the story.

After that first, terrible day, I still hadn't talked to Katie. She probably didn't even know I was here. Laurel was with us a lot. I'd never thought I'd have a mortal friend. Or any friend aside from Conner, for that matter. I'm pathetic. How could I even think I could win this thing?

When Conner and I were walking to our hotel (what strangely enough had been paid for a week, my guess is Hermes, Conner is teasing me with Aphrodite) Conner asked me, "So, we're not going to leave anymore, are we?"

I shook my head. "What do you think?"

"I know I had a rough day, and yours was even worse. But now you've been so stupid to enter that competition and we have to show Jessy we're not scared off, so I don't know." Conner was such a help. "And then there's the point of Gardner…" he added grinning.

I sighed. "Fine. We won't leave. Because I can't pass up the opportunity to whack at Jesse with a sword."

We had reached our apartment's door. Conner slid our pass through the lock and the green light showed. Inside, we saw a note lying on the coffee table. It was written in Greek, thankfully. "Travis and Conner," I read out loud, "as you already guessed, I got you this room, together with Aphrodite (Hi, guys! How's Katie and Laurel? Travis you're so cute!- A) Right. But I had to promise Athena you wouldn't steal anything from the hotel and Demeter you would get Katie away from James and not prank her. Was that it? Oh, and Apollo wanted something, but I forgot. Get 'em, boys! –Hermes."

"That settles it. We have to stay," Conner said. "Bummer we can't steal anything or prank, though."

"But only from the hotel," I reminded him.

The next morning, I was kind of excited for PE. With Greek, I didn't want to show off, because that's a dead language. With PE, I could do everything without any punishment. Time to show Jessy I was tougher than he thought. But I really didn't want to do all that King and Queen stuff. I cursed myself again, and walked to school. Conner was right next to me. He and Laurel were going to help me with my campaign. Only the word already made me wanting to groan.

We waited in front of school for her. She was late. "Class is going to start any minute now," I said, impatient.

"Give her a minute," Conner said again. He said that every minute. "She's probably stuck in traffic."

"Walking?" He glared at me.

That moment Laurel came running up the steps of the building. Her hair was a mess and she was out of breath."I'm sorry!" she panted, leaning on her knees, a couple big paper scrolls in her hand. An uneasy feeling gnawed at my insides. _Posters. _"I got… hold up," she explained, with a wink to Conner.

"Are those…?" I muttered, pointing at the scrolls. Laurel rolled one out. It was a orange poster, a picture of me on it, Vote Travis, and little wings on the bottom. "O gods."

"Relax," she said. "Just three or so. I'm not going to cover the whole school full with your face."

I was really uncomfortable. "Uh… no thanks?"

She waved it away. "Just three. Jessy has like twenty already hanging."

"Jessy," I growled. "Fine. Only three."

"Great!" she said, pushing past us. Then she stopped and turned around. "Oh, and are you sure you don't want me to talk to Katie?"

I was taken back for a second. "How'd you know it was Katie?"

"Well, you just confirmed it. But also, I saw you talking to Jessy, and you really seemed to hate him, and Katie is Jessy's date. She's not his type at all. And he's not hers."

"And you know what her type is?" Conner asked, suspiciously.

She shook her head. "Not really. But it's not Jessy." She turned to me. "So're you sure?"

I nodded. I needed to do this myself. I wasn't even sure if I wanted her to know I was here. I was making a pretty big fool of myself.

"Alright, then," she said chipper. With that she walked into the school, trying to smooth her hair out.

I turned to Conner. "So, where are you going?"

He shrugged. "If I had a choice, raiding some place. But I have PE now. You?"

I grinned. "Me too." I wish we could pair up, but fighting Jessy was even more fun than fighting Conner.

Together we searched the gym. Of course, Jessy was already there. "Ready to lose?" he asked. I didn't even bother answer. I just changed and walked outside with Conner. We waited for the new hired coaches to come. Jessy, annoyingly, stood right next to me.

A big guy walked past us, along the whole row of teens, a megaphone in his hand. When he was at the end, he grabbed it tight and yelled: "Okay, guys!" I don't think he knew you only had to talk and not yell into a megaphone. It already makes your words louder. That's what it _does._ "Today, as request, we have three experts, who're going to teach you fighting with different weapons. Be respectful and play nice!"

Two people walked up to us. A grin appeared on my face. One of them was a guy with black ruffled hair and green eyes, the other a blonde girl, grey eyes. Both around 16 17 years.

"Kids, these are Mr. Jackson and Miss Chase and…" the coach stopped. "Where's Miss Grace?"

Thalia was here too? Oh, this was going to be great. I saw Conner smiling next to me. Percy and Annabeth hadn't seen us yet. Jessy had no idea who he invited over.

"I'm sure Miss Grace will be here soon," Annabeth said. She was grinned over the words Miss Grace. Thalia was still one day from being sixteen and will never be older. Also, Thalia didn't use her last name. "Anyway," she turned to the row of teens. "We will be your instructors today. I'm Annabeth Chase, I'll be using a dagger." She spun her dagger in her hand and gave everyone a look saying don't mess with me. "Percy here uses a sword and Thalia will be…"

"Archery here!" Thalia threw open the changing room's doors. She had her hunter's bow swung over her shoulder. I don't know who's idea it was to put Thalia in front of the class. Whoever it was, it wasn't a good idea. "And I will be the only one using this bow."

"Can the other teachers not use a bow?" a girl asked curiously.

Thalia grinned. "Well, you see, if you give Percy a bow, he might hit a couple people with one arrow." Percy glared at her.

"Is he that good?" the girl said with awe.

"No. He's that bad," Thalia said. "So people, choose!"

The class soon quickly split in three. Conner went to archery. Jessy dragged me to sword-fighting. I shrugged him off. When Percy saw me, he grinned. I shook my head, trying to silence him. He seemed to understand. When our group had gathered, Percy spoke up. "So people, I'm going to be teaching you the basics of how to handle a sword. I've been trained with swords since I was twelve, so don't worry about that I'm the same age as you. Now…" he got out Riptide. It couldn't hurt mortals. "We'll be using harmless swords," he said.

"Are you kidding?" Jessy exclaimed. "That one is razor-sharp!"

Percy glanced at me, I nodded: He's mortal. I would've nodded anyway, whether he was mortal or not. Percy swiped Riptide along Jessy's arm. He pulled his arm back, but found it had no marks on it. "It won't hurt you. Everyone, get a wooden sword…"

I picked up a couple, weighing them in my hands. Stupid training swords. I didn't have my own. Me and Conner were good with everything, but not great at anything. From the corner of my eyes I saw Jessy doing the same. He seemed to know what he was doing. He saw me looking. "I've trained in fencing for years. You're going down." Crap. It wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.

"Same here," I said. I loved the shocked surprise in his eyes. "Sword, dagger, archery, more, all since I was nine." I walked back to the group.

Percy was explaining how to hold a sword and stance. I looked over at the other groups. Conner was firing arrow after arrow. He hit the board, but no bull's eye.

"So I'll need an volunteer," Percy said. I returned to our class. He looked at me. "Travis?" he asked. I was about to step forward, but Jessy was first. "I'll go."

Percy nodded. He and Jessy stood in front of each other. "So this is a basic disarming maneuver…" he stepped forward and tried to disarm him, slowly. Jessy blocked it. It was super easy, but still: _show off_. "Very funny. I'm just showing the rest."

After multiple examples of techniques, we had to pair up. "Ready, Travis?" Jessy asked.

"Ready since I was dumped out of that window." I took my fighting stance. Jessy did the same. I waited for him to charge. He did so almost immediately. I dodged to the side, slashing his leg. He would've fallen to one knee if this sword would do any damage. It didn't. He whirled around, and swiped at me. He was really using fencing techniques. I parried it, spun around him and casually let the hilt of my sword bump on the back of his head. I really enjoyed this.

Jessy was angry now. He kept slashing and stabbing, so all I had time for was blocking. Our swords met and met again. Finally, I had had it and twisted my sword in the disarming maneuver. Jessy twisted back, but finally was forced to loosen his grip slightly. I took that opportunity and snatched his sword. I might not be as good a fighter as Percy, but stealing, I could do. A second later, I had one wooden sword at his neck and the other pointed at his chest. "Dead."

I dropped his sword and turned away. In front of me was Percy. He was grinning. "Nice job." Past me to Jessy, he said, "Nice duel. But you need to think more creative than just swiping and slashing." We walked out of Jessy's earshot. "What are you doing here?" Percy asked. "I thought you were a year-rounder."

"I was. Until now," I simply said. "What about you?"

He shrugged. "It sounded like fun. And Annabeth wants to search for demigods." Then he suddenly grinned. "This has nothing to do with the Demeter demigod who goes here, does it?"

I might have blushed. Percy was not going to let this go, but thankfully Annabeth walked up to us. "These kids are hopeless. No demigods in my group." Then she saw me. "Oh, hey, Travis. Why aren't you at Camp?"

Percy sang, "Travis and Katie, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G." He can't sing, I tell you. "How appropriate. Katie, tree, Demeter…"

Forget the thankfully. This was going all over Camp. I was glad Katie wasn't there at the moment. But I could never go back. "Really?" Annabeth said with a smile. "You know, she's probably in one of our next classes…"

"No!" I said, a bit too quickly. They both grinned. "You won't say a thing about me or Conner. She doesn't even know we're here. Understand?"

Annabeth understood, Percy just grinned goofily. I was really glad Annabeth was with him to keep him from doing something stupid.

I kept at the side the rest of the class, shot a few arrows, all seven or six points, until we could leave. To lunch.

I was nervous every time I entered the cafeteria. She could be there. She could see me. I didn't want her to see me. But, knowing Katie, she was probably outside. Which is why, I never go outside. If I ever ran into Katie here, it needed to be inside, so she wouldn't strangle me with vines on the spot.

Unfortunately, Jessy always seemed to be inside too. And he wasn't too happy about that I beat him. He was probably going to accuse me of cheating. I can't help it that I'm a demigod. It's not cheating. I usually cheat, but not this time. "There's our fighter!" Jessy said, announcing it to the whole cafeteria. I ignored him and walked past. "I saw your poster on the wall. Entering, huh?"

I stopped. I knew I should keep ignoring him, but I didn't want to be scared off. I was not going to flee. "So what if I am?" I said, not looking at him.

He put his arm on my shoulders, "Well, you see my friend," I hate him. I'm not his 'friend'. "I don't think a person like you would be a good… King. For anywhere."

I turned, shaking him off and glaring. "And you are?"

He laughed. "Of course I am. Look at me. I'm rich, I'm a sporter, I'm good-looking, I'm…"

"A hoax?" I offered. "Isn't it suspicious you always win and your father owns this school?" I noticed the whole cafeteria was silent, staring at us. Not a lot of people stand up to Jessy. "I don't know why you hate me so much, but I don't think you're worth my time to hate. So, bye." I started to turn away again.

Jesse was stunned for a moment. Then he was as calm as before. "You dare call me fake?"

"I'm pretty sure I just did." I looked back. "I don't care about 'how you could get me kicked out with the snap of your rich little fingers. If you could, or wanted to, you would've done so already. You want me around. So whatever you're planning," I held up my arms, "just do it now."

He smirked. "Like you'd get away that easily. I'm not going to fight you. That's not my style."

"Because you can't win? I think we proved that last class."

The side of his mouth quivered in anger. "No. Okay, people," he addressed the whole cafeteria. "You see this guy, Travis Stoll?" he pointed at me, like not everybody was already staring at me and him. "He calls me fake. I'm not the one who's lying. 'Cause I think you all should know something about Travis here, before you make your votes."

Is that what he wanted? I honestly didn't care. I didn't care about anything anymore. And even less about this stupid competition. But Laurel suddenly stepped towards him. "Are you really going to sink that low, Jesse?" Conner must've told her. I didn't know. Didn't pay attention.

"It's not low, Laurel," Jessy snapped. "I think people should know what Travis is." He turned toward the crowd again. "And what he is, is a thief. Both Travis and his brother have a criminal record. They pick-pocket, they break in, they steal. They even escaped from court and prison. They're criminals."

That was a lie. We've never been to prison. We escaped before we got there. I decided not to tell that. It would just confirm the rest. Also, we're not criminals. Most of it is for fun. Or if we needed to. To survive or pranks. "I'm not a criminal," I said softly. I didn't have a comeback. In the mortal world, maybe this is what we are.

"You're denying?" Jessy laughed. "I had first row view to your plundering. You tried to rob my father."

I didn't say anything. Conner had tried to warn me about mortals. It was a stupid idea to come here. I shouldn't have. And we were just going to escape again. Not show up. I'd send Conner back to camp and I'd go back to the streets. Where I'd belong. Gods, I'd never been this depressed before. Where is chipper Travis now?

"That's a lie!" Conner stepped forward. What was he going to do? Denying didn't work. "We aren't thieves."

"Oh, right. You call yourself scavengers." Jessy looked to the crowd like: can you believe them?

"Yes, we do," Conner said. He turned to the cafeteria like Jessy did. "I won't deny. We might have pick pocketed some people. Maybe stolen some food. I won't say we didn't. But…!" he let that 'but' hang in the air for a second. "Only because we had to. To survive." He looked around, to the reactions he got. People were gasping, hands before their mouths, others skeptical or suspicious. "We didn't have a rich childhood like Jessy. We didn't have anything. No food, no home, no money, not even shoes." I couldn't believe he played the poor helpless homeless children card. "We only did what we had to. So yes. We did steal. But not anymore." We _borrow_. I thought with a grin. We prank. "That's all I wanted to say. Now you know . Now you can fairly make your vote. Thank you for your time." He quickly grabbed my arm and dragged me and Laurel away.

Running through the halls I was grinning widely. "Dude, I can't believe you made us look so sad. That's going to get me a lot of pity votes!"

"We were sad, Travis," he said, trying to keep a straight face, and failed. He laughed and slapped me a high five.

Laurel rolled her eyes at us, but smiled. "You're not sad, you're pathetic."

"Even better, right?" I said.

She didn't even respond to that. "This way." She led us to the library. We plopped down on the soft sofa's laughing.

"I can't believe you changed yourselves from criminals to sad strays," Laurel laughed.

"Conner, you're awesome, you know that?" I said.

He held his head high, "Yes, yes, I do." He grinned, not holding the 'I'm so mighty' pose for more than one second. "Gods, his face! The best!"

I smiled. Then it faded. Behind Conner I saw Katie entering the library. She walked over to the copy machine and looked around, as if sensing I was looking at her. I jumped up and dragged Conner with me behind a bookcase, one hand over his mouth to keep him from protesting. He kicked me and I let go, hardly even noticing. I moved a couple books to the side so I could see Katie through them. "Man, what are you doi…"

I shushed him and pointed.

He looked and grinned. "You're like a scared stalker."

I glared at him. "I'm not scared of anybody. And I'm not a stalker." Though, I was hiding and looking at her. Quickly I moved the books back and turned to Conner."Am I?"

He laughed. "No. I don't think…"I shushed him again when I heard Katie's voice. I peeked around the corner. She was talking to Laurel. Conner moved so he could see too. "Scratch that. You are."

I hit the back of his head and tried to listen. I thought I heard Homecoming... Conner returned a whack on my head. "Stop that!" I hissed. "Trying to listen."

Conner sighed and leaned back against the bookshelves. "Yup. Stalker."

"They're talking about homecoming. Katie asked if Laurel had a date. Laurel says…"

Conner was next to me within the same second. "What did she say about me?"

I shoved him. "Nothing. I lied. I can't hear a thing." I fell back, defeated.

"So are we going to wait until she leaves, now?" Conner asked after a while. I nodded absently. "Have you thought this through? Girls talk and talk, I swear."

I sighed and glanced around the corner again. Katie just waved and left. Finally. I stood up. "You don't have to wait anymore, my brother." We slid back of the sofa's next to Laurel. She was smirking at me. "What?" I asked. "What did she say?"

She smiled. "I didn't tell her anything about you, don't worry."

"How do you know her, anyway?" Conner asked. "I didn't know you did."

Laurel gave another of those winks, like she was passing an unspoken joke, but we didn't get it. "Well, duh."I was going to ask, but she was talking already. "She said she didn't even want to enter, but Jessy insisted. She doesn't care and doesn't think she has a chance anyway. So she just agreed."

"What did she say about Jessy? Does she really… you know… like him?" I asked cautious.

She grinned mischievously. "What fun would there be if I told you?" She weighed her options with her hands. She held out one hand first, "Or I tell you she likes him, what would make you leave and give up. Or…" she held out her other hand, "I tell you she doesn't, what would make you too happy and go yell it in his face immediately and you would drop out the contest." She wiggled her arms then dropped them. "Both take any surprise away."

"You want to see me suffer up that stage, don't you?" I said.

She grinned. "Absolutely." Then she stood up, giving Conner a kiss on his head, leaving him shocked and asked. "So, either of you have history now?"

I nodded and followed her out of the library. I was so going to get some information out of her.

I sat next to Laurel during History. Neither of us paid any attention, (who cares about the Huns?) but Laurel refused to tell me anything at all, anything that only had the slightest thing to do with Katie was somehow forbidden. "Does she know that we're here already?" was my twentieth question.

Laurel groaned annoyed. "No, happy now? She doesn't. She has seen none of the posters or heard anything about you. She really doesn't care about this contest."

"And does she care about Jessy?" I tried again, now she was finally talking.

All I got as answer was a glare. "Nice try, Stoll."

I sighed. She was harder to get an answer out of than Clovis, who fell asleep with every single word and when he woke up had forgotten it again. Extremely annoying, but excellent to prank.

"Travis," the teacher said, slamming her lineal on my table. "In what year was Attila born?"

"Atwho?" I asked surprised.

She pointed at the board. It was written there, but of course, the letters and numbers floated around. "604 DA?" I guessed.

The teacher sighed. "DA doesn't even make sense, Travis. AD 406. It's even written there."

"I know," I said. "But I couldn't read it." Of course, for offending a teachers handwriting and not paying attention, I got detention. I didn't care, I would just break out. Still, I didn't like it.

Almost immediately after History, Conner came running. "Dude, Jessy is going crazy."

"Just ignore him," Laurel told him.

"What did he do now?" I asked.

Conner looked shocked. "He actually tried to 'recruit' me. Getting me on his side."

I laughed. "Why would he do that?"

"Because I saved your ass back there in the cafeteria. And he knows how to get to you," Conner said matter-of-factly.

"I hate that guy," I muttered. "Wait, you didn't agree did you?" I joked.

Conner rolled his eyes. "No, I'm now his right handed man. Of course not. I never forgot you falling down five stories. Not a nice sight."

Laurel jumped in here. "You what?" she yelled. "Five stories? Jessy dropped you from five stories height?" she looked at me like she was trying to find scars.

"No!" I denied, glancing at Conner to tell him and shut up. "His father did." Of course that didn't help, so I tried to talk out of it. "And I don't think it was that high… I survived without a scratch, really!"

Laurel wasn't satisfied, but dropped it. "Fine." She clasped her hands. "Now, rules for the rest of the campaign…" I groaned. _Campaign. _It's freaking high school. "Silence. Neither of you will fight, steal or break out of anywhere. You're now perfect students, okay?" We were not, and she knew it. "Good. Also, you're not going to be doing any of your pranks around or in school. And you…" she pointed at me, looking strict, but still grinning. "… suit up!"

"I don't have a suit. Why would I need a suit?" I asked. I was not going to appear anywhere dressed up like a penguin. Not even for Katie. Maybe for Katie.

Laurel's smile told me I was in trouble. "Well then, Ted, we'll need to get you one."

"Travis," I corrected her. Usually I get mistaken for Conner. Never for Ted.

"I know," she turned and yelled over her shoulder, snapping her fingers, "follow me!"

We followed, not sure where we were going. Conner whispered to me, "I hope she isn't going to play 'have you met Travis' next." I had no idea what he was talking about.

So, a week later, I'm here. Yes, in a suit, waiting. I. Do. Not. Like. This. At all. And breathe out deeply. Any moment now I could be called forward. I am one of the three finalists. Me, Jessy (shocker) and a guy named Roger. I think some bullies voted for him. He is younger and incredibly shy. Still, he's holding his ground better than I had expected. That meant, he is still here.

I look over at Jessy, who just looks completely calm as he smirks at me. He's probably thinking he already won.

The girls had already been called and Melissa had won. I wasn't really surprised when they crowned her. Katie hadn't looked disappointed at all. She just walked backstage, different from where I am.

Then there was a break, another song, before we had to go up.

Since then, I had been thinking back. But now it's time.

"And now, my…students…" I swear I thought the Director was going to say 'victims', "our Princes!"

Jessy stands up and walks to the side of the stage. He smiles evily at me before stepping into the light beams. I quickly follow him. The light is blinding for a second. The crowd cheering. All eyes on us three.

**Am I evil or what? Next: the last chapter, when Katie finally sees Travis (on the stage!) and how will she react? Will Jessy give up? Who's the demigod (I think it's pretty obvious) and all for only five reviews!**


	4. Ch 4: He's an idiot, it's official

**I'm just going to post now, because I'm leaving for a while. I really want to thank everyone who reviewed and liked this story. **

**So enjoy with Katie and Travis!**

Katie pov! (Didn't expect that, did you?)

I was really relieved when they finally called out Melissa's name. I was glad I didn't win. I didn't even want to enter, but Jessy really insisted. He wanted to enter so badly, so I just agreed with a sigh.

Why did he even ask me? I never thought he even knew me. I think I just said yes because Jessy was pretty popular, and nobody else was ever going to ask me.

I went backstage, hoping to go unnoticed back in the crowd. The music started again.

Thankfully, nobody really noticed me when I moved between the dancing people. At the punch-table I saw Laurel talking with a guy. He had his back to me, I didn't recognize him. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Laurel!" I said. "Who's this? You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend."

The guy turned, quickly stepping away from Laurel like they were caught. I would've laughed, but then I recognized him. "Conner?" I said surprised.

Conner raised his hand awkwardly. "Hi."

I was speechless. What was Conner doing here? Why… he… Laurel… what?

Laurel was first to speak up. "I'm sorry you lost."

I waved it away. "Doesn't matter. You know I didn't care."

"Yeah, I knew, but it was awkward." Laurel is always that honest. "So…" she started, but didn't know what to say.

It was silent for a while. The music played on. I decided to say something, even if it was lame. "So how's camp?" I asked Conner.

He seemed shocked for a second, glancing from me to Laurel. "Uh… what camp?"

Laurel nudged him with her elbow. "Camp half-blood, silly."

Now Conner was really surprised. I read his expression, "You didn't know Laurel is a demigod?"

"You are?" he asked. I laughed at his shocked face.

Laurel rolled her eyes. "Well duh, you think I'd sit down next to any guy? I knew you from camp. You're a counselor." Conner felt very stupid and guilty. "It's okay if you didn't know," Laurel said immediately. "I don't know everyone at camp either. I'm not a counselor."

He nodded absently, trying to figure out what just happened. "So who's…" he started.

"Apollo. You know… the name… the tree…"she answered before he could ask. "I was in the war, though." (Laurel is mentioned once in TLO. Bet nobody knew that. It's just only her name, but she is! I just made up she's Apollo's daughter, though).

Conner seemed surprised. "I had guessed Aphrodite, honestly," he admitted. She started to ask why, but this time he interrupted. "For one, I thought you were a model," she blushed, "and because you were so interested in Katie and…mpf!" Laurel had just kissed him full on the lips to shut him up. When she pulled away, Conner was completely dazed. Laurel patted his back, smiling.

I crossed my arms. "Katie and who?" I repeated, suspiciously.

"Nobody," Laurel lied.

I turned to Conner. "Conner, why are you here?" In the distance I heard the princes being called forward.

He didn't know what to answer. Meaning, he was hiding something. "No reason. We thought it was a good idea to go to school."

No way I believed that. "We, huh? Is Travis here too?"

Conner gave me a painfully doubting expression, then pointed with a very small gesture towards the podium. My hand flew towards my mouth. "O gods." Three guys were standing there. One was Jessy, smiling greatly to the crowd. Next to him were two guys, one I didn't know, with glasses and black short hair. The last one was blinking against the light and was an almost clone of Conner here. "Please tell me he's not here."

"He is…" Conner muttered.

"Please tell me that's not him."

"It is…"

"Say that he's not there because he actually wants this."

"He doesn't." Thank gods.

"But you're year rounders…"

"We were…"

"Then why is he?"

"I can't answer that with two words!" Conner protested.

I closed my eyes, trying to focus. Travis was one of the finalists of my school's homecoming and I didn't even know he was here? Why was he here? Why was he up there? I really should've paid attention to the contest more. "So why is he up there?" I heard myself ask. My eyes sprung open again and I whirled around to Laurel. "Why is that idiot standing there?" I jabbed my finger at Travis. "In MY school without letting me know?"

Laurel didn't even look impressed with my outburst. She had her arms crossed and leaned back relaxed. "Why don't you ask him when he comes down?"

I spun back to the stage. The Director held the envelope in his hand, opening it annoyingly slow. I didn't care who would win. Travis or Jessy. I didn't care. I was going to kill Travis, prince or king. I just wanted it to be over.

The thought of simply leaving shot through my mind. The exit was right there. I didn't have to face Travis. I didn't have to face Jessy. But Laurel would never let me go. I didn't know what was going on, but she did, and enjoyed it.

"And this year's king is…" he said, and waited for the drummer. The drummer was just as done waiting as the rest of the students and didn't do anything. "Alright… this year's Homecoming King… James Montgomery!"

Big shocker there. As long as he didn't expect me to dance with him anymore. I sprinted backstage, and waited there, tapping my foot, for Travis to show. My mind was raging, my hands itching for his throat. No vines here, unfortunately. A couple seconds later Travis pushed aside the curtains. When he saw me, he stepped back. "Katie! I… er…"

I stepped forward when he stepped back. He wasn't going to escape. "You're dead Stoll. What are you doing here? What were you doing _there_?" I pointed to the stage. Travis was now up against the wall. "Why aren't you at camp? Why didn't you tell me you were here?" With every question I took another step forward.

"I tried…" he was trying to fade into the wall. But he wasn't a son of Hades.

"Don't you start with the two words answers too!" I yelled. "So _why_, Travis?" My face was just inches apart from his with my most angry face. I could feel him breathing heavily, his heart racing and beating against my chest. Better be scared of me. "Why?" I demanded once more.

His expression changed from fear to determination. He leaned forward to close those inches between us and clashed his lips against mine. Fierce, yet surprisingly tender. I was surprised for a second. Then I grabbed the collar of his shirt. He seemed to think of it as a good sign, but instead I slammed him back against the wall. "What the hell was that?" I yelled.

Everything was silent for a moment. No single sound anywhere. Finally Travis broke it."Your answer," he said softly. I loosened my grip for only a second in shock and he dashed away. I was left in the dark, backstage, thinking of what just happened, the tips of my fingers brushing against my lips, staring at the door where he left. Of course a silence can never last long. I was about to get angry because he had answered with _two words_, when the silence was broken again.

Someone started clapping. "Bravo." I whirled around and saw Jessy. He was leaning against the wall, just a step away from the stage. I wondered how long he'd been standing there. "You've managed to hurt him more in a few seconds than I could in a week."

"I didn't mean to…" I stuttered. I had meant to harm his physically, not hurt him like this. I still didn't know why, or what just happened. I never thought of Travis… ever caring, ever being hurt. Not in this way. He was always happy, chipper, even when he had a black eye, a broken nose and crooked teeth. And that was only his face. He'd been laughing hard, leaning on his brother not to fall over. (Long story, involves some Ares campers and a lot, lot, lot of permanent pink hair dye, barbies and my little ponies, the old classic). "I didn't… he…" I fell to my knees, just feeling exhausted and really clueless in what to do.

"I'm sure you didn't mean to, Kate," Jessy said, pushing himself off the wall and walked towards her. "You didn't even know he was at school, did you?"

I found myself shaking my head. Jessy pouted, putting his arm around my shoulder. "Aw, poor Katie. You know, I tried to protect you from him. I really tried. I never thought he'd make it this far."

"What do you mean?" I whispered.

"I mean I tried to keep you away from him. How well do you even know him? I don't trust him. And especially not with you. And now look what happened." He cupped my chin with one hand, making me look at him. "I only blame myself," he whispered. "Really, Katie, you should keep away from him. He isn't…" Jessy was interrupted by someone else's voice.

"Katie, I'm sorry, I at least owe you an expl…" I looked away from Jessy. Standing there, staring at us, was Travis. He had come back. "Katie…" he sounded almost pleading.

Before I could answer, Jessy jerked my head back to his and kissed me, holding my head in his hands. I didn't want to, but I closed my eyes. I heard footsteps leaving, running. Jessy pulled back as soon as he left, a mean grin on his face. I jumped up and glanced from Jessy to the door and back. "Why'd you do that? That must've…" I couldn't finish that sentence. I had no idea what it would do to Travis. I honestly didn't . I never even knew he liked me. And I'm just assuming that now. It still seemed impossible.

Jessy didn't seem to regret anything as he slowly stood up. "He deserved it."

That snapped something in me. That's why Jessy asked me. That's all he wanted. I slapped him across his face with full force of a demigod. "And you deserved that." I started running towards the door.

"Kate," I heard him.

I turned back, glaring. "Don't you ever talk to me again if you know what's good for you. I could very well kill you myself, but I think my boyfriend would have more pleasure in that."

He didn't believe me. He didn't look startled at all. Idiot. "You have a boyfriend?" he smirked. "You just kissed the both of us, and you have a boyfriend?" They both kissed _me_.

"Now I do," I told him and ran away from backstage.

On the dance floor I kept looking around. He had to be here somewhere. He had to be… He had to be. He couldn't have left, right? He might have had the exact same thoughts as I had. But he could sneak away.

"Katie?"

I spun around. It was Conner. Wrong brother. I was probably one of the few people who could tell them apart without having them stand next to each other. I cursed. "Where's Travis? Have you seen Travis?"

Laurel put her hands on my shoulders. "Relax, girl."

"I can't relax. I have to… I _need_ to find Travis," I kept looking around. He wasn't on the stage. There were three exits here. The emergency was still locked. To the changing room's seemed unlikely, it was a dead end. That window might be…"

Laurel held my face. "Katie! Snap out of it! Travis hasn't come back from behind the stages. What happened?"

I felt tears pricking behind my eyes, so I quickly blinked them away. "He must've slipped away…"

"Katie, you're crying! Come…" Laurel led me to a corner of the gym and pulled me down next to her on a couch. She wiped away some tears. "Katie, what _happened_?" I knew she was just concerned, not a crazy person, only wanting to hear the rumors.

"They kissed me, and Travis… he… I…" I whispered. I refused to start sobbing.

Laurel held me at arm's length. "_They_ kissed you? Travis _and_ Jesse?" I nodded. "Girl, you are on a roll."

I smiled and punched her arm. "Jessy just did everything to get to Travis. I don't know why. But I have to find him. He's somewhere and… he thinks I hate him and…"

"And you don't?" Conner asked.

"No," I said. "I don't hate him." Saying those words seemed to clear my foggy mind. "I don't hate him at all. I used to, I think…"

Conner grinned. "Why do you think we always prank the Demeter cabin?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Because we get so angry for nature lovers?"

"That's my reason. But it's always Travis suggesting it."

"And all other cabins thank you," Laurel added.

I managed a small laugh. Then stood up. "Thanks, guys. But really, Conner, do you know where he could be?"

Conner shrugged. "I really don't. My guess would be somewhere outside yelling at the sky, cursing the gods, hoping to get hit by lightning. That's what he usually does when he's depressed. Don't worry, Hermes usually stops them. Usually."

My eyes widened. " Oh gods!" I screamed and ran away to the only exit I had over from my scan of the place.

Behind me I heard Conner yelling: "I was kidding! He's never been depressed before!"

I didn't care whether he was kidding or not. I burst through the door, cold night's air hitting my face. I suddenly felt cold in my knee-length green one-shouldered dress. The music of the gym sounded suddenly so far away when the doors fell closed behind me. I did a quick 360, looking for Travis. I saw a shadowy figure a bit away. I recognized his curly hair and profile of his face even as a dark shadow in the distance. I'd seen him enough times through my cabin's window at night, knowing I was going to wake up to something nasty to recognize him.

I ran to him, finding him studying an ATM. He didn't even look up, he just kept staring at the machine, letting his fingers slide over the buttons. His expression was unreadable in the dark, but I saw his eyes shone in the moonlight. Water. Tears. He had actually cried over me? "Travis, I was…"

"Go away, Katie." I hadn't expected him to say that so curtly. "Go back to Jessy."

"Hey," I said loudly and tried to turn him around, but he shrugged my hand off. "Travis..."

He turned to me, angrily. "Yes, that's me, Travis, the thief, criminal, loser, pranker, who everybody hates. I get it."

"Jessy's a jerk," I said suddenly.

He raised an eyebrow. "And you finally figured this out?"

I wanted to scream. "You're so annoying!" I yelled instead.

"Thanks," was his cold reply as he went back to the ATM. His fingers typed in a couple codes, but the machine blinked red. Every blinking light annoyed me more. Finally I snapped my fingers and two vines shot from the ground, wrapping around his wrists and pinned them to the machine, just out of reach from the buttons and twenty bucks that just came rolling out. "Huh," he grunted, surprised.

"Now listen to me," I told him strictly. "You're not a criminal. You're a pranker. And yes, everybody at camp hates your pranks. But it wouldn't be camp without you. Even for demigod standards with everything happening, it would be _boring_."

"Boring?" Travis repeated skeptically.

"Yes. Now shut up. No. I still want that explanation. And you'd better have a good one. Cause it'll decide what you have around your neck after it. Vines or me."

"You how?" he asked with a real Travis-like smirk. "Good way or bad way as in strangling?"

"We'll see."

The story that followed out of his mouth was the craziest I'd ever heard. He had actually come here for me. Entered to piss off Jessy and win me?

"You're an idiot," I concluded when he finished.

He didn't say anything, just pointed expectantly to his neck.

I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around him. "But it's kinda sweet."

"Ah, the good way," he smiled and placed his own arms around my waist.

I punched him. "Definitely an idiot."

"Really?" he asked. "I feel pretty smart right now. Look how I ended up."

I groaned. I should've strangled him. "I hate you," I told him. My words didn't have the same effect since I still had my arms around his neck and we were swaying slowly to the soft music from the gym. And it felt great.

He smiled, looking down on me and kissed the top of my head. "Hate you too."

**Using the wrong word? Really? Absolutely not. **

**So that's it I think. Or should I continue with reactions of people? I don't know. Tell me what you think of the story! But for now, it's completed!**


	5. Question

**Ok, so I know everyone hates author's notes. I do. But I just have one question. I think I'm going to write a fifth chapter with reactions. (Yay) But... I have no idea. So here's my question: what do you think Jessy's reaction will be? Will he be stunned, shocked, burst out laughing, start a fight, grab the nearest girl, try and talk Katie to leaving Travis (like that's gonna happen) or something else? I can't decide. Tell me in reviews, please! **


	6. Ch 5: Drown or make her mine

**So, I don't think this is the best chapter, but I did my best. **

Katie

After a while dancing slowly outside, I started to get cold. But I honestly didn't want to leave. I turned and buried myself in Travis' suit, closing his blazer around the two of us. I still couldn't believe he was wearing one. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me from behind. He rested his chin on my shoulder and whispered, "You want to go inside?"

"Maybe," I answered, leaning back against him, still moving slowly to the music. "Part of me does. Part of me doesn't want to see the others."

I could feel Travis grinning in my neck. "Are you kidding? I can't wait to see Jessy's face when I show up with you…"

I groaned. I so should've expected that. He was still Travis. I turned around to face him, "You really just want to show Jessy I chose you?"

"Totally," he said smiling.

"You make me rethink my decision here."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is this going to be your blackmail in our relationship? You're going to threaten with Jessy?"

"Totally," I said with a smirk, repeating his answer. "Or some other guy, but somehow you really don't like Jessy." Who wore the pants in our relationship now? Why did that bring up the memory of Travis in a tutu? Yes, memory. Another prank gone bad.

I saw him think for a second. He glanced at my smirk and changed the subject. "Let's just get you inside. You're freezing."

I was. I turned, wanting to walk back to the gym. Travis gave me his blazer to wear and then wrapped his arm around my waist. I knew he wasn't going to let me go until he was Jessy's shocked expression or whatever reaction he got. I didn't even mind. "You're not wondering what your brother's reaction is going to be? Or Laurel's?"

"They already know," he simply said.

I was confused. "They know what happened behind stage, yes, but…"

"They do?" Travis asked surprised. He didn't seem so happy Conner knew about his depression. Then he shook it off. "I meant _that_." He cocked his head in the direction of the gym. The door was open and two heads peered around it. When they noticed us moving to them, they quickly pulled back.

"Curious meddlers," I mumbled under my breath.

Travis laughed. "I swear, sometimes I think she's an Aphrodite's girl." I looked at him. "What?" he asked.

"She's Apollo's," I said, annoyed I had to tell him again. Oh, wait, that was Conner. "Right… you didn't know yet."

"She is?" he asked surprised, the same reaction Conner gave. Brothers…

I just sighed. "Let's go inside."

He nodded and held open the door for me. When we walked in, not many people seemed to care. But some did. Of course, Laurel and Conner were looking at us, Laurel almost jumping up and down from excitement. Conner was grinning with probably some dude congratulations 'you got her, bro' or something that I didn't understand.

A couple of my other friends were looking at us too, wondering how I knew Travis and who he was. I smiled at them and took Travis' hand. He squeezed mine slightly, but didn't take his eyes of someone else. I followed his gaze, to the shocked face of our 'favorite' king.

Jessy didn't say a word, just looking at us, not believing it. I was starting to feel awkward, wanting to pull away my hand, but Travis didn't let me. He was so enjoying this. Then just out of the nothing, Jessy cracked up. He started laughing! "You've… you've got to be k-kidding me!" he managed.

"About what?"I said, taking a threatening step forward. He didn't look scared, even after that slap I gave him and promised to kill him. He probably didn't believe me. Boy, was he wrong.

Travis held me back. Laurel and Conner had come up behind us, looking like bodyguards. "I'll take this." He wasn't so happy anymore as seconds ago. I saw the snarl coming, but he held it back, suddenly looking … friendly. "Hi Jessy, how're you doing my friend?"

Jessy was back to his shocked phase. Travis gave Conner a high five. "I knew that would work!"

"So we're not going to pretend to be friends anymore?" Jessy asked, obviously confused. Or just plain stupid.

Travis shrugged. "I tried it for five seconds, didn't like it."

"Good," said Jessy. Maybe he wasn't plain stupid. "Then full war is on." He had no idea what he said.

"This is hardly going to be a war," Travis answered, already cracking his knuckles.

"Guys!" I yelled. If they wanted to kill each other, probably Travis killing Jessy, "can you please do this after school? I know some people who really worked hard on the decoration! We don't want it torn down!"

Jessy looked at me. "You just care about that?"

"Well… yeah."

Jessy didn't like that answer. He was mostly surprised I think, that I wasn't so peace loving after all. "Look Jessy," Travis started again, "we could go repeating gym class, or you can admit and accept that you might've won the competition, but I really won and you know it." I wondered what happened during PE, but I would ask later.

"So you're really choosing _him_ over me?" he said disbelieving. "The king, or the thief, the peasant?"

Travis cletched his fists. I knew he was hoping to keep this without violence, only for me. He was trying so bad. I calmly answered the jerk, "Robin Hood over John, Merlin over Arthur, Abderus over Heracles and definitely Travis over you."

"Say who-now?" he asked.

"Never mind," I sighed. "Yes. I am really choosing this idiot over you." I pointed back at Travis, who didn't even seemed to notice I called him an idiot.

Jessy didn't know what to say for a second as Travis looked at the band on the stage. It was silent now and the singer was starting with an announcement. Travis looked very nervous, as he hadn't been for the last minutes. "Good, otherwise this would be really embarrassing."

I looked at him. "Travis, what's going on? What did you do?"

He said nothing and I followed his glance, looking at the stage too. "This next song is a request…" the singer said. _O gods, he didn't… _"This one's for Katie Gardner out there." The music started and they played _She (for Liz)_ by Parachute.

Travis bowed to me, holding out his hand, "May I have this dance?"

I was tempted to say no. I didn't like the way I was the center of attention. I didn't like everyone looking at us. And the song, him doing all this for me… it was just too much. Then I really listened to the song. I didn't know it.

_She has no problem with secrets  
She knows how to keep them  
She never felt the need to let them show  
And I've had no trouble with speaking  
Or trusting my instincts  
And maybe this is one that I should know_

_But as I'm waiting there  
The devil on my shoulder stares  
Laughing that the one thing I can't get  
Is what I need_

Is that really how he felt? He looked up at me because I waited too long. His eyes told me. He did. With a smile, I took his hand. He grinned, looking relieved and reeled me in. He spun me around twice until I leaned back against him, my arms crossed before me and my hands in his.

_She, She is the words that I can't find  
How can the only thing that's killing me make me feel so alive  
And I couldn't speak  
I couldn't breathe to save my life  
All of my chances swim like sinking ships  
This time it's it  
I'll drown or make her mine_

I rested my head back on his shoulder. He smiled and whispered in my hair, "You had my head underwater for too long, Kat."

I didn't know what to say. The song was just too perfect. I just closed my eyes, listening to the music and feeling Travis behind me.

_My vocal chords have been fighting  
My mouth likes to spite me  
It never says the words that come to mind  
And I brought a stick to a gun fight  
And I'm stuck with my tongue tied  
I run but I can't hide what's always there is She_

The chorus repeated and I heard Travis singing along softly. I found myself doing the same thing.

_I can see these things I'd do  
But never seem to follow through _

"Well, you did it," I finally said softly. He didn't answer. I just felt him smile against the back of my head, where he kissed me. He pulled back for a second to lower his lips to my neck, and I quickly turned around in his arms to meet him there. He was surprised for a second, then gave in. The whole gym seemed to fade. It was just me, Travis and Parachute's perfect song as the chorus repeated again and again. And one shrill high scream.

"Travis? Care to explain?" Oh, great. I rolled my eyes before I pulled away. Melissa. Travis had a pretty guilty expression. It didn't take a daughter of Athena to figure out Melissa was Travis' real date.

We both opened our mouths to say something, Travis' planned words probably nicer than mine, but Laurel beat us to it. She tapped Melissa's shoulder, who was fuming at us. "Yo, Melissa."

Melissa turned and snapped, "What?"

All Laurel did was shrug carelessly and said, "I heard Jessy's pretty weak right now." That was enough.

Melissa shortly turned back to us, waved, "Bye," and darted off, screaming: "Jessyyy!" Even though he wasn't my favorite person right now, I felt sorry for him. Melisa obviously did choose a king over a prince. Without a second thought.

I gave Laurel a quick 'thank you' look. She smiled 'don't mention it,' then winked suggestively at me and Travis before turning back to the other brother.

Travis put a hand on my shoulder and turned me back. "Where were we?" he said with a smirk.

I laughed at him and glanced over my shoulder to Laurel and Conner. "Same place they are now, I think." Then I turned back to Travis, kissing him again.

It didn't take less than five seconds before our names were yelled again. This time, Jessy was back. I groaned, wrapping my arms around Travis neck and pulled him down to me.

~~~~~~ Travis~~~~~~

"Expelled?!" I repeated, more yelling than talking.

The old lady sat behind her desk, her expression bored, but still looking like she wished she had a bulletproof glass.

Conner was next to me, just as shocked as I was. "Why? We didn't do anything!"

"In class you didn't," she confirmed, no emotion in her tone. "Out of class on the other hand…"

"This isn't fair!" I protested.

"Live is hardly fair, Mr. Stoll." She had just given up on the Travis-Conner confusion and called us both Stoll. "You two of all people should know that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Conner almost growled, knowing very well what she meant.

"What I mean is that you two shall leave this school immediately and can never come back. Cheating, stealing and fighting is not allowed in this school."

"It was self-defense!" It so wasn't. "Did Montgomery have anything to do with this?" Beside that it was him who I punched. Twice. Maybe more. And Conner backing me up when Jessy's friends showed up. But that was beside the point.

"Out!" She waved her hand to the doors, already not giving us a single look anymore. She rolled her chair over to her computer, probably ordering that bulletproof glass.

I sighed and pulled Conner with me. Outside the office the girls were waiting for us. Katie was sitting across the hall, looking at her shoes. Laurel leaned on the door, almost falling over when we opened it. She sprung away just in time to keep her balance. Katie immediately looked up and asked, " What did she say?"

I looked at Conner. "We agreed school doesn't really work for us," I told them.

Katie and Laurel looked at each other and nodded. "Expelled," they said in unison.

"Maybe," Conner replied. "But we'll be going back to camp."

I took a step to Katie, leaving Conner and Laurel alone. She didn't look at me, just to the ground, nervous about something. She didn't regret anything, did she? Gods, now I was nervous. "Katie, are you ok?"

She was pulled out of her thoughts and looked up to me. "Yeah, sure." I gave her a 'and now tell me the truth look'. She sighed. "I just feel guilty, ok? It's my fault you're expelled."

"I don't regret anything. I punched him and he deserved it," I told her calmly.

She wasn't satisfied. "What if…"

I interrupted her. "Kat, if he tries anything, anything at all, I'll come right back. Force Nico to shadow travel me or something. And Laurel's here too. She showed she has a good punch in her. You'll be fine."

"I wasn't worried about me." That surprised me. A smile played on her lips. "Last time you were alone at camp without me, all of this happened. And I'm not sure if releasing two Stolls on the city is a good idea."

I smiled, yeah, Conner and I were already planning some stops along the way to camp… "Then come with us. For the weekend."

"Fine." Then she seemed to remember something. "Right, I had another question." That didn't sound good. "What would you have done if that song started playing and we weren't together yet?"

Everything that happened since I re-met Jessy wasn't according to my original plan. Then it was thrown over again when he asked Katie. And then again when Katie stormed to behind the stage where I kissed her. Not the plan. "It would've literally been my drown or make her mine."

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "Well you got me."

She kissed me. Right in front of the whole camp. The wolf-whistles, cat calls and other yelling was overwhelming. Of course it wasn't just for us, but also for my brother and his girlfriend. I swear our entire camp could've been Aphrodite's.

Katie pulled away laughing. "This place is crazy."

I nodded laughing too.

Then it got crazier. "You know what the tradition is, right, Stolls?" Clarisse yelled over everyone. It suddenly got very quiet in the valley. Everyone got creepy grins on their faces.

"You started it yourself, Conner," Percy said with too much happiness.

Annabeth grinned, "Let's give them a bit of their own medicine."

I glanced at Conner. We both knew what they wanted as the crowd slowly and threatening came closer. We nodded at each other and both scooped up our girls bridal style. We ran to the lake, Katie screaming: "No! No! Don't you dare Travis!" in my arms. Laurel had wrestled out of Conner's arms and ran herself, laughing and holding his hand. Then we just jumped into the cold water ourselves.

**I just needed them to go in the lake. I guess it would be a tradition in CHB. **

**The song, She (for Liz) by Parachute is just so Tratie I had to put it in. **

**Review! Review! Review! I love reviews!**


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